Ornament



May 27,1941. w. B. MILES,- JR

ORNAMENT Filed June 24, 1940 2:222:22:IIZIIJ- ATTORNEYS WITNESS PatentedMay 27, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,243,764 ORNAMENT Wilber 3-.Miles, J12; Milesburg, Pa. Application June 24, 1940, seal No. 342,147 2Claims. (c1. 41- 10') The present invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in ornaments and more particularly to ornaments to be usedin the decoration of a Christmas tree.

Anobject of the invention is to provide an ornament in simulation of astar having a multiplicity of simulated rays; projecting from the bodyof the star, the star. body and rays. having been coated with a luminoussubstance so as to be readily visible in a darkened room.

Another object, of the invention resides in the provision of an ornamenthaving the above characteristics in which novel means is provided forsupporting the radially projecting simulating rays.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ornament insimulation of a star having radiant qualities but which does not rel-yupon electrical means for operation thereby rendering the ornamentuseful in various localities where electricity is not available. I

The invention also consists in certain other features of constructionand in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingd-rawing andspecifically pointed out in the appended claims. H

In describing my invention in detail, reference will be had totheaccompanying drawing whereinv like characters denote like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an ornamental star embodying thefeatures of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a rear elevational view thereof illustrating one means ofsupporting the radially extending rays from the star body.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view.

Figure 4 is a front elevational view of a modified form of means forsupporting the radially extending rays,

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the modified form 7 shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a further modified form of the invention.

Figure 7 is a side elevational view of the form of the invention shownin Figure 6.

Referring to the drawing for a more detailed description thereof, theornament which is generally designated by the reference numeral 10simulates a star and includes a body H from which project the starpoints I2. The body H may be formed of paper, wood, metal or otherdesirable material and is preferably formed by a stamping process. Thefront face of the body is coated with aluminous substance l3 of the typewhich will fluoresce when exposed to light rays, it being understoodthat the luminous substance absorbs the light and that the brilliancethereof when viewed in" the dark depends upon theamount of lightexposure and the brilliance of thelight It is a feature of the presentinvention to have a multiplicity of members extendingradially of thebody to depict lightv rays.- such as wouldbe seen emanating from a star.One form of the invention comprises the use of a meta-blinks disc l4attached. to. the rear face of the star body I l and held thereon bymeans of a screw or the like l5; The disc M isformed with a plurality ofdiverging recesses, l6 of a size to retain the light ray depictingmembers I-l, said members radiating from the central portion; of therear faceof the body as more clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawing.As more particularly shown in Figure 1- of thedrawing, the ray membersll are of unequal length and are also coated with a luminous substance1-3 of the type present on the body I;|. During the fabrication of theornament, it is preferred that the ray members I! be coated with unequalamounts of luminous substance and; light treatment, for renderingcertain of the my members more fluorescent than others which willmaterially add to the attractiveness of the ornament. h v

It will also be observed in Figure 1 of the drawing that there is anabsence of the luminous mixture at the spaces marked B between the edgeof the star bod'y and outward along each ray member. This absence of theluminous mixture makes the rays appear to be independent of or separatefrom the star body itself when viewed in a darkened room.

In Figures 4 and 5 of the drawing, there is shown a modified form ofmeans for attaching the ray members to the star body, said meanscomprising a disc l9 having a multiplicity of openings 20 communicatingwith the peripheral surface of the disc l9 and extending radially fromthe center thereof. The disc I9 is attached by means of a screw or thelike to the central portion of the rear face of the star body and theray members are held within the openings 2'!) for radial projection fromsaid disc.

In Figures 6 and 7 of the drawing, the body of the star-shaped formationis indicated by the reference numeral 2! and it will be noted that saidbody is formed with a plurality of openings 22 for receiving the raymembers and for supporting the same radially of the body. In this formof the invention, the ray members are supported without the use ofauxiliary means such as the discs previously described.

As afore indicated, the body H and ray members ll are coated with aluminous mixture and said mixture may consist of 19 parts of luminouscalcium sulphide, 4% parts of barium sulphate, 18 parts of varnish and acoloring matter added thereto such as French ultramarine color, cobaltcolor, violet lake color, zinc oxide, barium chromate, and realgar. Theabove proportions are by weight and the coloring material used dependsupon the color desired for the finished ornament. Like other luminousobjects, the ornament i is exposed to light and then displayed in adarkened room or the like. It has been found in'actual practice that ifthe ornament is exposed to light for approximately or 20 seconds andthen observed in a darkened room, it will not be immediately visible butwithin a very short time it begins to appear and gradually increases inbrilliance. If exposed to light for two or three minutes, it becomesalmost immediately visible in the dark. However, the action or movementof the simulated star is best observed when it is not too bright or whena position is taken a sufficient distance from the star so that itappears to be slightly dimmed. Then by looking directly at the star bodyand then to the left of the star for a distance equal to its width, thento the right of the star for an equal distance, then back to the body ofthe star, it will be observed that the rays begin to apparently movewith the side rays moving upwardly and downwardly and the upper andlower rays appearing and fading out alternately and that light sometimesappears to leap from beyond the ends of the members. While this actionis going on, if the eyes are permitted to return to the star proper, itwill be observed that sometimes the star itself will have seemed todisappear and at other times ithas reappeared. This optical illusion iscaused by the manner of applying the luminous mixture to the ornament aswell as the amount of light exposure, after coating,

It is preferred, although not essential, that the points 23 and 24 ofthe star body ll be longer than the other three points of the star. Itis this feature which makes the light appear at times to leap beyond theactual ends of the ray members.

Unequality of light treatment also aids the action of the star as, forinstance, when the body of the star is exposed to the close up glare ofa flashlight or the like for a few moments andthe ray members treated inthe same manner, but irregularly and unequally on each member, certainof the ray members are caused to appear more luminous than other of theray members.

An ornament as embodied in the present invention has numerous uses butparticularly as a novelty for Christmas trees. When used as an ornamentfor the tree and with the tree in a darkened room, it is readilyapparent that the brilliance of the ornament would be visible to anyoneentering the room. By treating the ornament at different times withvarying amounts of light or by making different arrangements of raymembers in the holder, different actions of the star can be obtainedaffording endless entertainment in the home.

Also it will be understood, of course, by those skilled in the art thatvariations in the hereinabove described device involving thesubstitution of substantial equivalents for the devices described areintended to be comprehended within the spirit of the present inventionand that the invention is capable of extended application and is notconfined to the exact showing of the drawing nor to the preciseconstruction described and, therefore, such changes and modificationsmay be made therein as do not affect the spirit of the invention norexceed the scope thereof as expressed in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An ornament of the character described comprising, a substantiallystar-shaped body, the front face thereof being coated with a luminoussubstance, a disc attached to the rear face of said body, a plurality ofmembers projecting radially of said body and supported within said disc,said members being coated with a luminous substance, whereby said bodyand members will appear illuminated in a darkened room with said membersgiving the appearance of rays radiating from the star body.

2. An ornament of the character described comprising, a substantiallystar-shaped body, the front face thereof being coated with a luminoussubstance, a disc attached to the rear face of said body, a plurality ofmembers projecting radially of said body and supported within said disc,a portion only of said members being coated with a luminous substancewith the area of said members adjacent the-edges of said body being freeof coating whereby said body and members will appear illuminated in adarkened room with said members giving the appearance of rays radiatingfrom the star body.

WILBER B. MILES, JR.

